Wicked the Musical in London

Wicked the Musical is one of the best musicals I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. It’s currently showing at Apollo Victoria Theatre in London. Yup, I caught the West End cast in this award winning production! :)

Wicked is actually based on the first of a trilogy of books by Gregory Maguire called Wicked – The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. Most of you would have watched or read The Wizard of Oz at some point in your childhood. It’s a good movie but ultimately suffers from being based on a children’s book – it’s all black and white, good versus evil.

As you grow older, such concepts are foreign, nay, an insult to your intelligence, in a world you know has no such absolutes. It’s all shades of gray and Wicked will appeal to the older audience. The book and the musical adaptation has quite a few differences though – the book is darker and Dorothy does not make an appearance in the written word.

However, I love the musical coz it weaves everything together and portrays Elphaba (the name of the Wicked Witch of the West) as a revolutionary who fights for the rights of Animals. She is ultimately a very misunderstood character and you can’t help but feel sorry for her.

I managed to get reasonably good seats for 62.50 pounds (about RM 300) – it’s the very front row in the middle of the Dress Circle. I was impressed by the props on stage as well – the animatronic bird (?) hovering over the stage like a large pterodactyl that comes alive when the Wizard of Oz makes his speeches is awe inspiring!

The orchestra playing in front of the stage is so good that I went and bought the CD + program for 20 pounds. Wicked the Musical is probably best known for the song “Defying Gravity” which also appeared in an episode of Glee (the one with the wheelchairs in Season One).

I won’t spoil the story for you but basically the musical is about Glinda (The Good Witch of the South), Elphaba (The Wicked Witch of the West) and Nessa (The Wicked Witch of the East) during their days in school.

The witches weren’t known as such then (Glinda is such a selfish airhead) and the incredibly sad and touching series of events which culminated in the death of Nessa (damn Madame Morrible) and the vilification of poor Elphaba will bring a tear to even the most stone hearted man.

The production runs for about 3 hours, including an intermission between Act I and Act II and I cannot recommend it strongly enough for those with an interest in theatre (and even those without). If you only watch one musical in your lifetime, let it be Wicked. I got so angry at Galinda and felt so sorry for Elphaba even though it’s just great acting.

43 thoughts on “Wicked the Musical in London”

Kiran: Yeah, it’s an awesome musical! To be honest I was a bit dubious at first, didn’t think it would be a good show, but I read the book and then watched the production at the theatre. I was so blown away that I watched it TWICE! :)

It’s really that good. There’s a Broadway show, an Aussie one (not sure if it’s still showing) and one in Tokyo, all with their own casts besides the East End production.

You have missed Elphaba when it was played by Kerry Ellis! I haven’t yet seen Rachel Tucker as Elphaba, but I still remembered Kerry Ellis singing Defying Gravity. It sent chills down my spine. The other was Alexia Khadime, which wasn’t as good….

blogger should tell us that he is a convicted criminal before proceeding to comment on other people business. people have a right to know so everything he says can be taken with a pinch of salt…make that a whole barrel of salt

That’s like saying restaurants with bad food and who has failed in their businesses in the past should put up a huge poster on their current restaurant saying “I OPENED UP TWO BRANCHES BUT HAD TO CLOSE DOWN ONE FOR LACK OF BUSINESS. THE OTHER ISN’T DOING SO WELL EITHER”.

You know, so people can avoid the restaurant. They have a right to know. ;)

Seriously, you do know that I can see that you’re the same person right?

Wicked is quite wonderful! By far my favourite West End show, and I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!

One tiny thing… The thing that hovers over the stage is actually the Time Dragon – you know, the one from the book, that predicts futures and stuff? – and it’s supposed to support the idea of the time and all the clocks that make up the set… I’m not sure what significance the clocks actually HAVE, to be honest… But yes. It’s the Clock of the Time Dragon. :)

Anyway, I’m so glad to see someone who loved Wicked as much as I did. It’s phenomenal, isn’t it?

HB, I seen it when it was in San Francisco playing. It was great musical ever. As for the restaurant suing you on what you comment is so wrong. Did you pay for the meal with own money and got not your money worth in good food and service? I would say something about it for sure being a customer and customer right is entittle to see good food and service in business.

I just saw Wicked about 3 days ago, on a school trip, and it rocked my world! My first West End Production, First live musical, and I was impressed, to make a fundamental understatement. The costumes and voices were absolutely incredible, and gave me a host of ideas to pitch to my fashion designer friends. I’ve been dying to get my hands on the soundtrack, as I didn’t have time to grab it after the showing. I wish I could go back and see it from floor level though. I got seated in the center-left section of Dress Circle, funnily enough, second row back. :)